As part of its mission, the Center for STEM Education partners with Catholic schools across the United States each year in order to operate summer STEM camp offerings for middle school students in their local areas.
Research has shown that not only does the learning gap widen for many students during the summer months, but it is also in the middle school grade levels where a gender divide in STEM fields becomes more pronounced. To address these issues, the summer STEM camps seek to provide an affordable option for high-quality, hands-on, and captivating learning experiences for students of all populations. With particular attention to students underrepresented in the STEM fields and from low socio-economic backgrounds, the STEM camps facilitate rich and interesting STEM opportunities outside of the academic school year.
Summer STEM camps are offered at various partner school sites across the country. All camps are designed to run for 3 hours per day (typically, 9 AM – Noon) and are generally offered to middle school students – those who have just completed 5th, 6th, or 7th grade. Each camp is led by STEM content experts who have completed either Notre Dame’s ACE Teaching Fellows Program or STEM Teaching Fellowship.
Registrations are now open for our 2023 summer STEM camps! Our STEM camp locations for 2023 are:
- Marian High School in Mishawaka, IN - Learn more!
- Central Catholic High School in Modesto, CA - Learn more!
Learn more below about the types of camps offered at our partner sites and where we have previously offered camps. If you are interested in hosting a summer camp or if you would like more information, please contact us.
ND CORE Camp
ND Coding and Robotics Experience (ND CORE)
Engineering and computer science education have not traditionally played a major role in formal schooling, thus putting in jeopardy the development of future engineers and STEM literate citizens. This is particularly true for students from underrepresented populations, females, and students from low socio-economic backgrounds.
ND CORE is a two-week summer computer programming and robotics experience that helps students learn the exciting work of coding with the Finch Robot using Snap! language. Students also design more tailored scenes and games using the Scratch platform. ND CORE seeks to engage these very students in rich coding environments that help them develop abstract thinking, pattern generalization, the use of symbol systems and representations and logic to help solve relevant tasks.
ND CORE is a collaboration between the Notre Dame Center for STEM Education and school districts and dioceses around the country. Each course is taught by a talented and energetic graduate of the ACE Teaching Fellows based on a curriculum developed by JC Clark, Mike Comuniello, and Matt Wilsey.
Chemistry and Engineering Camp
Exploring the Chemical World – The curriculum for this two-week camp focuses on engineering investigations during the first week, highlighted by experiments and computer simulations exploring chemical phenomena & gas behavior, and discusses the engineering design cycle in the second week, with an Engineering is Elementary investigation and bioplastics challenge.
Key components of each camp include:
- Daily hands-on investigation
- Extended conversations about data and evidence for claims
- On-going collaborative problem-solving
After participation in the Science and Engineering camp, students showed statistically significant increases in interest of STEM topics and strong achievement gains.
Anatomy and Physiology Camp
Exploring the Living World with Anatomy & Physiology – The curriculum for this two-week camp focuses on anatomy and physiology during the first week, highlighted by multiple dissections, and discusses the engineering design cycle in the second week, with an Engineering is Elementary investigation and Rube Goldberg machine challenge. 
Key components of each camp include:
- Daily hands-on investigation
- Extended conversations about data and evidence for claims
- On-going collaborative problem-solving
After participation in the Science and Engineering camp, students showed statistically significant increases in interest of STEM topics and strong achievement gains.